The Election To End It All
by Shibalyfe
Summary: Rita comes face to face with a story that she can't cover. This was written for The Houses Competition, Y5R3.


House/Team: Gryffindor

Class Subject: Care of Magical Creatures

Story Category: Drabble

Prompt: [Setting] Daily Prophet Newsroom

Beta: Tiggs and Seth

Word Count: 750

A/N: This story was written for The Houses Competition, Y5R2.

* * *

The Election That Ended It All

Rita Skeeter adjusted her tight blouse as she tried not to fidget. She glanced at the clock and began to thump her fingers against the wooden desktop.

Everyone else at _the Daily Prophet_ had gone home, but not Rita; she always wanted to be the first person to jump on any juicy detail. For the past several years it had served her well; she may have been older now, but her name was still as well-known as it had been twenty-five years ago. Her articles gave the public the information that they wanted to know with a little flare, which had always been her style.

She heard the screech of an owl and quickly ran over to the window. A large bird flew in and perched itself on her office windowsill before presenting her with the letter attached to its leg. She quickly tore open the envelope, her heart thumping heavily in her chest. She frowned as she read its contents.

* * *

Rita paced around the edge of the room, the sound of her heels clicking harshly on the tiled floor. Her shoulders were rigid, and her back was ramrod straight. Her hands fidgeted with the fabric at her sides, and she kept glancing toward the center of the room. _The Daily Prophet_ newsroom was usually busy and boisterous. Normally, the office was filled with people sitting at their desks, which were all arranged in a circle around the center of the room. The journalists would often shout ideas at each other across the room. Instead, however, this day her co-workers were gathered together, staring at a projection from the floor, silently waiting for the final outcome. They were anxiously shifting from side to side, but no one uttered a word as they stared at the picture.

An image of Hermione Granger and Benjamin Knoll, an older gentleman with greying hair, were projected in the center of the room. They were each shown standing behind a wooden podium on a stage, both sporting tight smiles as they addressed the vast amount of people in front of them. Numbers kept popping up on the screen under their faces, and Rita was not surprised to see that Hermione Granger's numbers were significantly higher than Benjamin's. The poor sod never stood a chance.

Rita shook her head and leaned heavily against the wall. The excitement from her co-workers was rolling off of them in waves, but Rita didn't share in their revelry. The moment that she had discovered that Hermione Granger was in the running to become the next Minister of Magic, she knew that her career would be over. There was no doubt in her mind that Hermione would win; she had always had a mind for big ideas and the drive to follow through with them, but she also knew that if Hermione became Minister of Magic, she would not be able to continue writing. She had unfortunately promised—more like threatened—to not write any more articles about Hermione years ago. How could she continue to be a reporter and not be able to report about the Minister of Magic?

A loud cheer rang throughout the floor, and Rita slowly made her way back to her office. She took in the sights of her purple walls, and her eyes skimmed across all of the framed awards that lined them. She gave a sad smile; this had been her life for the past few decades. She wasn't sure what she was going to do now.

She slowly began to pack up her belongings in a small box and magically shrunk it to fit into her pocket when it was filled. She grabbed the folded letter that had been on her desk for the past year and slowly walked out of her office heading to her boss' office three doors over. She gently placed the letter on her desk before turning and walking out.

She saw her co-workers and friends still celebrating and cheering for the new Minister as she made her way towards the exit. She gave one final, sad look back at the office and could see Hermione's face bright and filled with hope.

There was always one story that would always get the better of any journalist, and Rita was sadly okay with hers being Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age. It took the best to bring down the best.

She let the door slam behind her and closed the door on that part of her life.


End file.
